corals going down...

[Dugless]

I struggled when I used the liveaquaria salt. I even had a bag of it that mixed with .75ppm of ammonia.

Not sure if you’re experiencing something similar. I recently did a half dose of chemiclean to address cyano that I assumed was the result of a few months of the symptoms you’re describing. All my SPS were dying off with tip damage and base recession even at sub 7dkh which led me to think it was bacterial. I’ve seen a rebound since chemiclean and think it might’ve addressed the bad bacterias. After clipping all the dead branches last week I’m now seeing healing and regrowth on every piece. I have my fingers crossed.

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

Wow. This is interesting. I’ve been using LA salt and have had issues I can’t pin down. All my parameters are well inside tolerances. I do have cyano too, the green kind. It’s the second time it’s popped up. It surfaced about 2 weeks ago. I have chemiclean already. I might give this a shot and see what happens.

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

I’m down to the bottom of the bag. I have 2 boxes of IO reef crystals in the garage. I might make the switch early.

 

[tautog83]

The tips are still crumbled but it doesnt seem to getting worse. Just the tricolors . I have a ssc frag and millie frag that have great polyp extension at night and are kinda holding their color . The others are washed out in color . The next one is going down looks to be my rainbow stylo ... 0 growth , 0 calcium uptake , 0 alk consumption in about 3 weeks now . 40 gallon water change tomorrow we see if anything happens. I did notice my coraline production has just stopped too. Hammers and torches open , ..they look like they want to grow but just arent . 5 months and I cant even get another head to grow ..I'm just stumped really . Im.hoping something happens with a water change if not then I'll do 80 gallon one in another month because not sure what else there is to do

 

[tautog83]

I'm using red sea blue bucket , and I used a tiny uv sterilizer for close to 3 weeks to see if there was some sort of bacteria but didnt look like it . No cyano, no algae of any sort . I have an army of trochus lol. But honestly I have been thinking of maybe something bacterial ..but what would I even do for that

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

There are a few bacterial treatments out there for tanks. I’ve never done them before. I’d be cautious and do tons of research before pulling the trigger. There are a ton of threads on here if you think it may be bacterial. I’ve also heard that maybe if it is bacterial, introducing a new bacterial starter can help combat the bad stuff. Just an idea for ya. Sorry your corals continue to go downhill.

 

[tautog83]

ya im not sure im going to do that as of now , see what a waterchange does . it just sucks

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

I struggled when I used the liveaquaria salt. I even had a bag of it that mixed with .75ppm of ammonia.

Not sure if you’re experiencing something similar. I recently did a half dose of chemiclean to address cyano that I assumed was the result of a few months of the symptoms you’re describing. All my SPS were dying off with tip damage and base recession even at sub 7dkh which led me to think it was bacterial. I’ve seen a rebound since chemiclean and think it might’ve addressed the bad bacterias. After clipping all the dead branches last week I’m now seeing healing and regrowth on every piece. I have my fingers crossed.

I had some chemiclean from a previous Green Cyano outbreak and thought I’d try and see if it would bring back my corals. They were headed downhill FAST and at this point, it was worth adding chemicals to my tank to save them.

On Sunday afternoon I added the Chemiclean per the instructions. I took the cup off my skimmer and took out my carbon. I let it run for 72 hours ( vs the 48 recommended because the green cyano is much more resistant to the treatment, IMO). Yesterday I was busy flying and when I checked my tank today, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

There are still patches of cyano that I’ll treat in a week but my SPS and LPS corals were the best I’ve seen them in WEEKS. My totally browned out and on it’s last legs Red Cap Montipora has polyps showing! My Purple and green Stylophora have more PE than I’ve seen in weeks! My Green Lepto has stopped losing tissue and is colored back up! I think @Dugless is into something with this chemiclean treatment for STN SPS with no measurable reason!

Hopefully my corals continue to improve and turn around. Fingers crossed!

 

[tautog83]

Well im glad you are seeing some results . Me on the other hand are still having struggles . It looks like my coraline has stopped growing. No alk consumption or calcium consumption really in 2 weeks . The tips are just dying then it's just all downhill . I have one millie and a ssc that still have great polyp extension but it's like they are stuck . It wont encrust or any visible growth . I just dont get it it's like something is putting my tank on pause . Obviously I'm not adding anything else . Calcium at 420 .no idea . I'm going to put the uv sterilizer online again and see if I see any other results after the fact . Sending out another icp test tomorrow as well

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

For the sake of your sanity, I hope the ICP Test tells you something. Sorry you aren’t getting anywhere I feel your frustrations though. Just keep it stable and keep pressing. I was wondering that if it is bacterial, I’ve been reading that adding a bacterial starter might help combat bad bacteria in the tank. I’d say it’s worth a shot at this point. It really won’t hurt your tank. Just an idea I had after re-reading this thread, trying to help you figure this out.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

85 with diffusers though , and torches at same lvl no problem . Like I was saying I had almost 3 weeks of good growth before this . I'm not positive on par lvls and im.running ab program with 3 XR 30s over a 750xxl red sea. I can try to lower it and see because I'm out of options lol

Have you checked your par? I think you don’t have enough light. 3-xr30’s on 160 gallon isn’t much light, especially at 85% and diffusers. Those diffusers reduce the output by about 15-20%. I have 200 watts of led only on my 50 gallon cube, delivering 300-500 par for 9 hours and my acros absolutely love it.

 

[Jimmy Elder]

Looking at your ICP test kit you need to dose Iodine to help corals heal and battle anything that could be harming them. Other than the iodine being supper low everything else is within parameters. That point to par as one possible issue and if you are going to want to keep acros it takes a strict regiment of tank maintenance. 10 gallons a week water change on the same day. Also a dosing regiment that is matched also. What do you use as test kits for Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium, phosphates, nitrates, and salinity?

 

[tautog83]

Have you checked your par? I think you don’t have enough light. 3-xr30’s on 160 gallon isn’t much light, especially at 85% and diffusers. Those diffusers reduce the output by about 15-20%. I have 200 watts of led only on my 50 gallon cube, delivering 300-500 par for 9 hours and my acros absolutely love it.

to be honest , i think its plenty of light . there are dozens of people on here with similar setups in terms of 3 xr30 radion pros . also as i was saying in earlier posts i had growth before this with the acros in the same exact spot with the same light intensity .i appreciate the feedback though because its just frustrating . what i am noticing is coralline production has pretty much stopped too, i guess i can ramp up the lights back to 85% and see if it does anything .the 3 or 4 newer frags i got a couple weeks ago as testers , same thing, the tips just brown out and die . I feel like when you lose those big feeder polyps it just shuts the coral down. its odd because the tips die off but the rest of the coral doesnt bleach out and i still get some polyps out. You know how you get new shoots off the encrusted base , well those tips bleach out but the main stalk and the rest of the encrusting base retain color...??? Im still thinking its some kind of chemistry or bacteria thing . its almost like its something blocking the corals and coralline from taking in the calcium? i have a bunch of trochus snails that have bred so i have probably way too many but ive been catching some and giving them out to lfs and friends. im thinking ok well snail shells require calcium to grow so that could mean something but then again my calcium number is fine . i have a fungia 2 torches and 2 hammers and they seem fine throughout this whole thing they just havent really grown. i cant say ive ever owned a hammer coral than in 9 months didnt at least double in size . as stated before i have a ssc and one millie that is keeping polyp extension (not so much color) but it wont encrust or it wont do anything this is maybe the 4th week? so i find that weird that im not getting the tip problem with them but it wont do anything as far as encrusting.

Looking at your ICP test kit you need to dose Iodine to help corals heal and battle anything that could be harming them. Other than the iodine being supper low everything else is within parameters. That point to par as one possible issue and if you are going to want to keep acros it takes a strict regiment of tank maintenance. 10 gallons a week water change on the same day. Also a dosing regiment that is matched also. What do you use as test kits for Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium, phosphates, nitrates, and salinity?

upon receiving that first icp test i dosed some iodine to help bring that number up, as far as testing for it again i have not. hopefully ill see an improvement from the last icp test. i did ammino for about 2 weeks and that made my phosphates go up from the last icp test but as far as it helping, it did not. i just did a 35 gallon water change about 5 days ago hoping if it was something in the water column that maybe i could make progress in removing it . i did have a week where i had more of a ph swing that i would have liked because of house being all closed up for like 10 days but again this started happening way before that . hanna for phosphates and alk, salifert for rest . . refractometer and hanna digital tester for salinity. my dosing regiment has stopped because the numbers arent changing .. my alk went down 4 ppm in 9 days ...test everyday .

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

to be honest , i think its plenty of light . there are dozens of people on here with similar setups in terms of 3 xr30 radion pros . also as i was saying in earlier posts i had growth before this with the acros in the same exact spot with the same light intensity .i appreciate the feedback though because its just frustrating . what i am noticing is coralline production has pretty much stopped too, i guess i can ramp up the lights back to 85% and see if it does anything .the 3 or 4 newer frags i got a couple weeks ago as testers , same thing, the tips just brown out and die . I feel like when you lose those big feeder polyps it just shuts the coral down. its odd because the tips die off but the rest of the coral doesnt bleach out and i still get some polyps out. You know how you get new shoots off the encrusted base , well those tips bleach out but the main stalk and the rest of the encrusting base retain color...??? Im still thinking its some kind of chemistry or bacteria thing . its almost like its something blocking the corals and coralline from taking in the calcium? i have a bunch of trochus snails that have bred so i have probably way too many but ive been catching some and giving them out to lfs and friends. im thinking ok well snail shells require calcium to grow so that could mean something but then again my calcium number is fine . i have a fungia 2 torches and 2 hammers and they seem fine throughout this whole thing they just havent really grown. i cant say ive ever owned a hammer coral than in 9 months didnt at least double in size . as stated before i have a ssc and one millie that is keeping polyp extension (not so much color) but it wont encrust or it wont do anything this is maybe the 4th week? so i find that weird that im not getting the tip problem with them but it wont do anything as far as encrusting.




upon receiving that first icp test i dosed some iodine to help bring that number up, as far as testing for it again i have not. hopefully ill see an improvement from the last icp test. i did ammino for about 2 weeks and that made my phosphates go up from the last icp test but as far as it helping, it did not. i just did a 35 gallon water change about 5 days ago hoping if it was something in the water column that maybe i could make progress in removing it . i did have a week where i had more of a ph swing that i would have liked because of house being all closed up for like 10 days but again this started happening way before that . hanna for phosphates and alk, salifert for rest . . refractometer and hanna digital tester for salinity. my dosing regiment has stopped because the numbers arent changing .. my alk went down 4 ppm in 9 days ...test everyday .

There’s no way to know without a par meter.
@Jaysushi was having the same problems with an xr30 with diffusers and thought he was burning his acros. He turned them down and had more losses. When he got his hands on a par meter he was shocked how low his par was. It sounds like you’re either stripping your water or not providing enough light or both.

 

[tautog83]

There’s no way to know without a par meter.
@Jaysushi was having the same problems with an xr30 with diffusers and thought he was burning his acros. He turned them down and had more losses. When he got his hands on a par meter he was shocked how low his par was. It sounds like you’re either stripping your water or not providing enough light or both.

i guess i can look into this, but did he have growth beforehand?. i guess thats the biggest thing for me as why i dont think its light. did it only affect some acros? i thought it may be low nutrients at first but i mean the numbers are there . i have a birds of paradise and a stylo that have grown next to the bottom of the tank but not nearly as fast as they should be. why would coraline just stop when it was starting to grow good? ill look into seeing if i can get a hold of one just to get an idea of where im at.

 

[Jaysushi]

I did have slow growth and I thought I was providing enough par, but man was I wrong lol. My par ended up being 80-150 in the high spots where sps was kept. I was running ab+ with no warm whites and overall intensity at 50% with no diffuser. Slowly bumped my overall intensity to 95% and par sits around 250-380 in majority of the spots where I keep sps. Definitely a good idea to borrow a par meter and check.

 

[Jaysushi]

That way if your par is good then you can rule that out and move onto something else. A good piece of mind to know par numbers lol.

 

[Jaysushi]

I had growth beforehand while my acros were on my frag rack which sat higher than the highest point on my rockscape. Kind of silly I know, but when I glued them down to the rocks they were receiving less par and started to stn

 

[tautog83]

Well I bumped the overall intensity to 95 now , on the ab program which is 100 on all blue channels and I think 25 ish on the others . I'll try and find a par meter and see what im.getting . I guess my question to you is were you seeing the same issues in the tips of the corals ?

 

[AngryMike2016]

BRS rents par meters, FYI.